Two “Generals” in serious debt trouble

Another driver of today’s carnage is the debt problems at two Generals — General Motors and General Growth Properties. These are two major players in the auto and commercial real estate sectors, respectively, and they’re both in serious debt trouble. We’ll have to see how generous the government and the creditors are in the restructurings of these two firms.

Here’s more on General Motors from the Washington Post:

“The Obama administration has forced the longtime head of General Motors to resign and said yesterday that it would withhold additional federal aid to the auto industry unless the ailing companies undertake changes they so far have been unwilling or unable to make.

“The administration effectively rejected as untenable the business plans that GM and Chrysler had submitted to restructure their companies, saying that neither had fulfilled the terms of the federal loans the companies received in December.

“The president is expected to announce today that both companies may still win additional federal aid but under stricter terms.

“Chrysler, which the administration believes cannot survive as a stand-alone company, must reach an agreement to partner with the Italian automaker, Fiat, in the next 30 days to become eligible for as much as $6 billion in additional federal loans.

GM, which has shed thousands of workers since the downturn began, must devise a leaner business plan that likely will cut the company workforce and product lines even more than officials had contemplated. It has 60 days to come up with a new approach.”

And here are some details on General Growth Properties from Marketwatch:

“Real estate company General Growth Properties Inc., which is fighting to avoid bankruptcy and is behind on its debt and payment deadlines, on Monday said it is continuing discussions with holders of the Rouse “TRCLP” unsecured notes. General Growth said the group of bond holders did not achieve the minimum acceptance levels for the previously announced consent solicitation, which expired on March 27. Some of General Growth’s lenders have already moved to foreclose on the company’s mall properties.”

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